Lacrosse is a popular sport in North America and throughout the world. The sport requires participants to use sticks to carry, pass, and shoot a ball. Part of the sport includes a face-off that occurs periodically during play of the game. The face-off involves a player from each of the opposing teams. In executing the face-off, the players orient their sticks very close to one another. The referee places the ball between the sticks, steps away from the players, and instructs the players to remain, effectively, motionless until the referee issues a signal (e.g., blows a whistle) to restart play of the game. At the signal, the players move their sticks to attempt to gain control of the ball.
Players often exhibit several traits that facilitate success at the face-off. Although strength is important, it is often the case that the “winning” player is quicker and/or has a reaction time that allows him/her to more readily react to the signal from the referee. These traits allow the player to gain immediate advantage over the opposition. The player may, for example, move the stick in a manner that traps, or “clamps,” the ball advantageously between the stick and the ground. In other cases, the player can move the stick in a manner that causes the ball to jettison from between the sticks into the path of an oncoming teammate.